Bay Area Air Quality Management District is Proposing a Point Of Sale Mandate for Wood Burning Fireplace/Wood Burning Device Replacement to EPA Standards.

Sonoma County is just one of the counties under the jurisdiction of the Bay Area Air Quality Management Division, and not the entire county is covered. The towns north of Windsor, Ca. are not part of the BAAQMD, and would not be effected by this proposed mandate.

The proposal is still in the planning and public outreach stages, and a bit hard to fully understand.  The information can be found at their website, www.baaqmd.gov , along with many clickable links to more information.

The NorthBay Association of Realtors is strongly against any Point-of-Sale mandates.

Here are the details of this latest proposal;

Bay Area Air Quality Management District officials are considering a plan that places new mandates on wood burning fireplaces, including a possible point of sale. Possible mandates include:

• Homeowners must remove their wood-burning fireplaces before a home can be sold

• If an EPA certified wood burning fireplace is the only source of heat, homeowners may receive an exemption to use it on mandatory burn ban days, if they register it with the Air District, and may be required to pay a fee

• Upon remodeling a fireplace, the uncertified wood burning fireplace must be replaced with a gas fueled, electronic or EPA certified heat source

REALTORS® have expressed concern that:

• These type of retrofits can cost upwards of several thousands of dollars

• The point of sale is ineffective since it would take decades to reach every home

• The point of sale would especially hurt seniors
  on a fixed income who need to sell their homes

• The plan does not take into account historic homes

• Instead of a mandatory point of sale, the Air

We feel that the District should create an incentive program for homeowners to replace their wood burning fireplaces, as the use of incentives has historically been an effective method in Sonoma County

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Shirlee Zane is one of the Sonoma representatives who will be voting on this issue. Contact Supervisor Zane at: (707) 565-2241; shirlee.zane@sonoma-county.org

Petaluma City Councilmember Teresa Barret is one of the Sonoma representatives who will be voting on this issue. Contact Teresa Barret at: (707) 778-4360; teresa4petaluma@comcast.

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